Suction cleaner



Feb. 1, 1944- T A. STQNER SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec. 50, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR Th0masA.Sloner M (sf/5244 ATTORNEY Feb. 1, 1944. T. A. STONER 2,340,437

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec. 30, 1940 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Thomas'A. $1012 61' BY A447 5? mm 7 ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 1, 1944 SUCTION CLEANER Thomas A. Stoner, Beloit, Wis., assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 8 Application December 30, 1940, Serial No. 372,249-

7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and novel improvements in suction cleaners and more particularly to an improved form of mufller which functions to reduce the operating noise of the cleaner. 7

An object of the invention .is to provide a new and improved suction cleaner. Another object is to provide a new and improved mufiier for suction cleaners. A further object is to provide a resonant mufller which is disposed in the body of the suction cleaner. Another object is to provide a resonant muiller wherein the cleaner casing forms part of the muffler construction. A further object is to provide a combination resonant-absorption muflier in a suction cleaner, wherein the resonant portion of the muffler attenuates certain undesirable sound waves, and the absorption portion reduces noise throughout the audible range. Other objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent from the specification and drawings, wherein: 1

Figure l is a side elevational view of .a suction cleaner with parts broken away to illustrate the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the resonant portion of the muffler, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view illustrating the manner of assembling the two parts of the resonant muffler. i

The embodiment of the invention disclosed in the drawing comprises a suction cleaner having a casing l provided with a nozzle ll communicating with a fan chamber l2 through a suction passageway l3, Disposed in'the fan chamber [2 is a fan I4 driven by an unshown motor enclosed in a housing l5 removably supported on a casing Ill. -An agitator I6 is rotatably mounted in the nozzle II and is driven by a belt l1 extending through the suction passageway l3 and having driving connection with a pulley l8 rigidly mounted on the motor armature shafts A handle I9 is pivotally mounted on the cleaner casing ID for moving the cleaner on its wheels over the surface to be cleaned.

A resonant muffler 22 is formed within the cleaner casing l0 and the motor housing l5, and is composed of two casing sections 23 and 24; the latter being formed integrally with the cleaner casing l0 and comprising a vertically extending end wall 25 and an annular wall 26 which extends rearwardly to the rearmost end of the motor housing IS. The mufiier casing section 23comprises 'anend wall 2! provided with a conduit 28 which projects inwardly of the. suction cleaner casing l8 and the mufiler casing section 24, the

wall 21 and inwardly extending conduit 28 cooperate to define an annular resonant chamber 30 which is concentric with the-exhaust passageway 29. The mufller casing section 23 is removably secured to the main casing III, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, by means of screws 3| threaded into a flange 32 formed at the extreme end of the main casinglll. The exhaust passageway is provided in each of its four. side walls with elongated openings 3! which are inclined toward the front end of. the cleaner and in a direction opposite to-the movement of the dirt-laden air through the exhaustpassageway. The openings 34 communieate with the resonant chamber 80 and their cumulative area is predetermined with respect to the volume of the resonant chamber ,30 so as to attenuate sound waves over a certain range of frequency.

A bag flange 35 is removably secured to the rear flange 32 on the main casing 18 by means of screws 36 and is providedwith an annular shoulder 31 on which is removably secured the lower end of an exterior bag 38, the upper end of which is supported from the cleaner handle in any wellknown manner.

Disposed within the bag 38 is a resonant-absorption type muflier indicated generally at 39 and comprises a frame member 40 having an annular flange 4| to which is secured a metal shell 42 which is lined with sponge rubber 43, or the like, to form a sound-absorbing muffler and to define a discharge passageway 44 from the fan chamber.

Disposed within the bag 38 is a dust-filtering bag 45 composed of paper, or the like, and has a re-entrant portion 46 which snugly fits over the metal shell 42 of theabsorptionmufiler and projects beyond the pper end thereof to form a deflector to prevent dirt from dropping back into the passageway 44. A clamp 41 removably secures the paper bag "to the frame member 48. The outer bag 38 is provided with an unshown opening for removing the paper bag 5 and to disconnect the latter from the muffler 39.

,The absorption muliler member 48 is provided with a pair of spaced arms 58 which are pivotally mounted by a pin to a pair of arms 52 extending rearwardly from the bag supporting member 35. A torsion spring 53 about the pin 5| acts to support the mufiler to prevent .the full weight of the latter from resting on the lower wall of the bag when the handle is moved to the conventionally substantially vertical storage position. In order to connect the absorption muiiler 39 to the exhaust passageway 29, a flexible bellows 55 has its lower end 56 provided with a flange supported in an annular recess 51 in the bag supporting member 35 to form an air-tight seal be tween the bag supporting member 35 and the rear end of the cleaner casing adjacent the exhaust passageway 29, while the upper end of the bellows 55 is removably supported on a collar 58 carried by the absorption muiiler.

In the operation of the cleaner sound waves are produced over the entire audible range, and some of these sound waves are of such frequency as to be sensitive to the operator. In order to eliminate, for example, thefan noise which is in a relatively limited range of frequency, the resonant chamber 30 is constructed to a predetermined volume with respect to the cumulative area of the entrance openings 34. Upon discharge of dirt-laden air into the exhaust passageway 29, the sound waves pass through the openings 34 into the concentric annular resonant chamber 30 and are attenuated in the enclosed resonant chamber 30 to reduce the undesirable fan noise. The energy of the sound waves passing through the passageway 29 into the resonant mufiler is also reduced by the absorption efiect of the sound-absorbing material 43 and its me tallic shell 42. Finally, the sound waves that es' cape into the filter bag 45 have been attenuated and absorbed to such a degree that the resulting noise is negligible.

When it is desired to clean the resonant chamber, the screws 3| are removed and the resonant muffler casing section 23 is removed from the interior of the cleaner casing Hi to expose the resonant chamber 30, whereby the latter may be cleaned.

I claim:

1. In a suctioncleaner, a cleaner body, an exhaust passageway in said body, a motor driven fan to remove dirt from the surface being cleaned and to discharge it through said exhaust passageway, a dust bag for receiving the dirt discharged by said fan, a hollow flexible member connecting said bag with'saidexhaust passageway, said bag being removably connected to said flexible member, and an adaptor removably mounted on said body and having means for receiving an extreme end of said flexible member, said extreme end contacting said body to form an air-tight seal around said exhaust passageway when said adaptor is attached to said body, and said bag being removable without disconnecting said flexible member and adaptor from said cleaner body.

2. A suction cleaner, comprising a cleaner body having a nozzle engaging the surface to be cleaned, an exhaust passageway, a fan chamber between said nozzle and exhaust passageway, and a suction creating fan in said fan chamber for drawing dirt-laden air from the surface being cleaned through said nozzle and to discharge the dirt-laden air through said exhaust passageway, a removable member telescoped with respect to said cleaner body to form with said cleaner body a resonant chamber, the walls of said resonant chamber forming a part of said exhaust passageway, means defining an opening connecting said resonant chamber with said exhaust passageway, said resonant chamber attenuating the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as the latter passes said openings to said resonant chamber.

3. A suction cleaner, comprising a cleaner body having a nozzle engaging the surface to be cleaned, an exhaust passageway, a fan chamber between said nozzle and exhaust passageway, and a suction-creating fan in said fan chamber for drawing dirt-laden air from the surface being cleaned through said nozzle and to discharge the dirt-laden air through said exhaust passageway, a removable member having a first portion inserted within said cleaner body and having a second portion forming an exterior wall of said cleaner body, said cleaner body and member cooperating to define a resonant chamber, said inserted first portion of said member forming a continuation of said exhaust passageway, openings in said inserted first portion connecting said resonant chamber with said exhaust passageway, said resonant chamber attenuating the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as the latter passes said openings to said resonant chamber.

4. A suction cleaner comprising a cleaner body having a nozzle engaging the surface to be cleaned, an exhaust passageway, a fan chamber between said nozzle and exhaust passageway, and a suction creating fan in said fan chamber for drawing dirt-laden air from the surface being cleaned through said nozzle and to discharge the dirt-laden air through said exhaust passageway, a removable member telescoped with respect to said cleaner body to form with said body a resonant chamber, the walls of said resonant chamber forming a part of said exhaust passageway, means defining an opening connecting said resonant chamber with said exhaust passageway, a sound absorbing muffler carried by said removable member and forming a continuation of said exhaust passageway for the dirt-laden air, said resonant chamber attenuating the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as the latter passes said openings to said resonant chamber, and said absorption muffler, absorbing the energy of the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as said absorption muiller conveys the dirt-laden air from said exhaust passageway. I

5. A suction cleaner, comprising a cleaner body having a nozzle engaging the surface to be cleaned, an exhaust passageway, a fan chamber between said nozzle and exhaust passageway, and

a suction creating fan in said fan chamber for drawing dirt-laden air from the surface being cleaned through said nozzle and to discharge the dirt-laden air through said exhaust passageway, a removable member having a first portion inserted within said cleaner body and having a second portion forming an exterior wall of said body, said cleaner body. and member cooperating to define a resonant chamber, said inserted first portion of said member forming a continuation of said exhaust passageway, openings in said inserted first portion connecting said resonant chamber with said exhaust passageway, a sound- 'a'osorbing muffler carried by said second portion of said removable member forming the exterior wall of said cleaner body, said absorption muffler forming a continuation of said exhaust passageway exteriorly of said body for carrying the dirt-laden air, said resonant chamber attenuating the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as the latter passes said openings to said resonant chamher, and said absorption mufiler absorbing the energy of the sound waves in the dirt-laden air as said absorption mufller conveys the dirt-laden air from said exhaust passageway.

6. A suction cleaner, comprising a cleaner body having a nozzle engaging the surface to be cleaned, an exhaust passageway, a fan chamber between said nozzle and said exhaust passageway,

and a suction creating fan in said tan chamber for drawing dirt-laden air from the surface being cleaned through said nozzle and discharging the dirt-laden air through said exhaust passageway, said cleaner body having an open ended walled area enlarged with respect to said exhaustv 7. In a suction cleaner, a cleaner body having an exhaust passageway, an adaptor removably mounted on said body and having an opening connected to said exhaust passageway, said opening being larger than said exhaust passageway, and a hollow flexible member having an extreme end removably secured to said adaptor in said opening, said hollow flexible member forming a flexible extension of said exhaust passageway beyond said adaptor, said extreme end lining said opening in said adaptor toconiorm substantially to the area of said exhaust passageway, said extreme end of said hollow flexible member contacting the cleaner body to form an air-tight seal around the outlet of said exhaust passageway when said adaptor is attached to said body.

THOMAS A. STONE'R. 

